Promoting Resilience in Young Children through Supportive and Intentional Interactions

Supportive interactions occur every day when teachers eagerly greet children as they arrive in the classroom, offering loving hugs and big hellos. Supportive interactions also occur when family members engage children in conversation about how it feels to be upset or scared about changes. Supportive interactions are the basis for relationship building, and relationships are the foundation for the warm and caring bonds that help both children and adults feel safe. Young children experience their world as an environment of relationships, and these relationships affect just about every aspect of development – cognitive, social, emotional, and physical.

What research says
Relationships are the “active ingredients” in healthy human development. At their best, they promote competence and well-being, individualized responsiveness, mutual action-and-interaction, and an emotional connection to another human being, be it parent, peer, grandparent, aunt, uncle, neighbor, teacher, coach, or any other person who has an important impact on the child’s early development.

Carrying out supportive interaction strategies is not difficult, but it must become intentional. Intentional strategies are thought out and planned, helping adults be more prepared for and mindful of their efforts to prevent challenging behaviors and promote healthy social and emotional development. When we are not intentional in our planning, our activities can seem forced, rushed, and lacking in meaning and purpose.

Here are a few ideas to keep in mind…

• Listen attentively – Young children are full of laughter, stories, anecdotes, and simple tales of their lives. When a child shares with you, lean forward and make eye contact, asking questions such as, “Wow, this is interesting, can you tell me more?”
• Display unwavering, genuine care and compassion – In the classroom, let the children know you are happy to be their teacher. Call or send notes to children who may be ill, celebrate significant family events along with the family, and work with diligence to create a classroom community where every child and family feels respected and welcome. Casual conversations, celebration of birthdays, comments on a new haircut, or warm thoughts after recovering from a bad fall can set the example of care that children can learn from. Encourage families to regularly remind their child that they are loved.
• Say it with a smile – Often, it is not what you say but how you say it. Practice saying, “I care,” by giving the child a “thumbs up” from across the room or saying, “You’re great just the way you are,” by simply smiling at the child.
• Mirror, mirror – Help children find their strengths by mirroring back to them those things they do well, remembering to focus on both effort as well as end results. “Marcus, you have worked so hard on this puzzle, and now you have really got it!”